TV killed the radio. In the current scenario, the Internet seems to have hushed the music industry. Music, sadly, is in the process of becoming more of a tool to market the film, rather than being a narrative device. The composers, more often than not, are asked to compose that one song, which will help create the maximum noise on the Internet. Consequently, the album as a whole isn’t fleshed out. Songs are ‘leaked’ over periodic intervals on social media platforms; the whole strategy behind every such video is to create a buzz around the film. Noise and not melody, rules the airwaves. YouTube hits and iTunes downloads seem to entice our musicians rather than a chance at posteritys. Another fast emerging trend is of ‘guest’ composers being brought in to add variety to an album. Too many cooks spoil the broth, they say but this simple truth hasn’t been grasped by the powers that be. Established singers have been benched while new players have been brought in to lure the listeners. Now, the industry does need fresh talent to survive. But there should be a genuine need for change. An experienced singer will always go that extra mile. Apparently, new singers get commissioned more because they charge less. It’s a disturbing fact if true. In today’s multi-crore budget scenario, the producers shouldn’t cut corners when it comes to music. The top billed star gets to pocket around 40 per cent of the film’s budget but that shouldn’t mean the other components be neglected. The lyricists too are made to concentrate more on catchy hook lines rather than actual poetry. Instant results are demanded from them, making them indulge in word play instead of metaphors. The whole concept of catering to the lowest common denominator is disturbing. A composer, a lyricist, a musician is a creative mind and not a machine expected to churn out hits after hits. Keeping all this in perspective, here’s taking a look at the musical highs and lows of 2014…
January
Movies: Yaariyan. Dedh Ishqiya
The year started off on a high, with two different albums, Yaariyan and Dedh Ishqiya making an impact. Yaariyan had the combined might of Pritam, Mithoon, Arko Pravo Mukherjee andYo Yo Honey Singh. Sunny sunny (Honey Singh) and Baarish (Mithoon) stood out. Dedh Ishqiya, composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, had more thehraav. Rahat Fatheh Ali Khan brought out Gulzar’s nuances in songs like Dil ke mizaaj ishqiya and Zaban jale hai. This old world album was for connoisseurs and not for the masses. It also had a great reprise of Begum Akhtar’s classic Hamri atariya by Rekha Bhardwaj.
February
Movies: Highway. Gunday
Hasee Toh Phasee, Gunday, Highway and Shaadi Ke Side Effects were the big films which stood out this month. The OSTs were as different as their contents. Vishal-Shekhar helmed the score of Hasee Toh Phasee, a quirky comedy. Zehnaseeb, sung by Chinmayi and Shekhar himself was the song of the album. It also had the oddly titled Punjabi wedding song, which indeed was one but with a twist, thanks to Amitabh Bhattacharya’s zany lyrics. Gunday was composed by Sohail Sen and its stand out offering was Tune maari entriyan, sung by KK, Vishal Dadlani, Neeti Mohan and Bappi Lahri. The classical Man kunto maula, rendered by Altamash Faridi and Shadab Faridi was also pleasing to the ear. Highway marked maestro AR Rahman’s entry. The songs reflected the road movie spirit of the film. Pathaka guddi, sung by Nooran sisters Sultana and Jyoti is still making waves. Alia Bhatt proved she can sing too with her raw rendering of Sooha saha, along with Pakistani singer Zeb. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics complemented the various regions captured in the film. In a nutshell, music became a narrative in Highway, something rare these days. Pritam’s Shaadi Ke Side Effects had a children’s song, Bawla sa sapna, after a long time. It was sung by Diva. The adult version by Mohit Chauhan was pleasing too. Kudos to Swanand Kirkire for writing the fun number.
March
Movies: Queen. Bewakoofiyan. Youngistaan
Queen, Bewakoofiyan and Youngistaan were released this month. Amit Trivedi, like his idol Rahman, too strived to marry the music into the narrative. London thumakda by Labh Janjua, Sonu Kakkar and Neha Kakkar was the most popular. Jugni by Amit himself and Kinare by Mohan Kanan made waves. Anvita Dutt wrote the lyrics instead of Amit Trivedi regular Amitabh Bhattacharya. Anvita also wrote most of the lyrics for Bewakoofiyan. Maverick composer Raghu Dixit provided the music. The title track sung by him and Gulcharrey by Aditi Singh Sharma and Benny Dayal were the perfect toppings for this frothy comedy. Youngistaan had music by - hold your breath - Jeet Ganguly, Sneha Khanwalkar, Shiraz Uppal and Shree Isshq. Suno na sangemarmar sung by Arijit Singh proved to be the takeaway song.
April
Movies: Main Tera Hero. 2 States. Heropanti
Films like Main Tera Hero, 2 States and Heropanti were released this month. The soundtrack of Main Tera Hero, composed by Sajid-Wajid tried to invoke the madness of the ’90s Govinda films. Palat, sung by Arijit Singh brought out the flavour and so did Besharmi ki height sung by Benny Dayal and Shalmali Kholgade. 2 States had music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, and lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. Locha-e-ulfat, sung by Benny Dayal, spoke to the youth in their language. The soft duet Man mast magan by Arijit Sing and Chinmayi too was well liked. Heropanti too had multiple composers in the form of Sajid-Wajid, Manj Musik, Mustafa Zahid, Raftaar and Bilal Saeed. Raat bhar, composed by Sajid-Wajid and sung by Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal and Whistle baja, a reworking of Hero’s iconic flute work by Raftar and Manj Musik and sung by Manj, Nindy Kaur and Raftaar stood out.
May
Movies: CityLights
CityLights was the only release whose music had any recall value this month. Arijit Singh scored once more with the soft romantic number Muskurane ki wajah, scored by Jeet Ganguly.
June
Movies: Ek Villain
The music from Ek Villain was the talking point in June. It was composed by Mithoon, Ankit Tiwari and Soch (Band). Ankit Tiwari composed the popular Galliyan (written by Jaydip Patil) and the philosophical Banjaara, written and composed by Mithoon enticed listeners. Shraddha Kapoor successfully exercised her vocal chords in a reprise version of Galliyan.
July
Movies: Bobby Jasoos. Kick
Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire combo brought out the soundtrack of Bobby Jasoos to the fore. Tu sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Papon, reminded you of ghazals duets found in Muslim socials of yore. Jashn sung by Shreya had spunk. Kick, composed by Himesh Reshammiya, Meet Bros Anjjan and Yo Yo Honey Singh had Salman Khan making his singing debut with Hangover. Apart from Bhai’s effort, its Jumme ki raat, sung by Mika and Palak Muchhal and composed by Himesh Reshammiya wowed the crowd the most.
August
Movies: Entertainment
The comedy revolving around a dog, Entertainment, composed by Sachin-Jigar, made the most noise this month. The talli song Johny Johny, a modern restructuring of the nursery rhyme, sung with verve by Jigar Saraiya, Priya Panchaal and Madhav Krishnan was lapped up by the youth. Veerey di wedding sung by Mika Singh too created a buzz.
September
Movies: Finding Fanny. Daawat-E-Ishq
Why does a film set in Goa not have Goan music is something one must ask composer Mathias Duplessy. Nevertheless, Finding Fanny did have a vibrant score and a full throttled singer in form of Mukhtiyar Ali, who sang its most admired song, Fanny re with elan. The end titles’ song, Shake your bootiya, composed by Sachin-Jigar and Sachin Gupta and sung by Divya Kumar was talked about too. Sajid-Wajid brought forth Daawat-E-Ishq. Mannat, sung by Keerthi Sagathia, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal reminded you of the music of the ’80s but was hummable nevertheless. Shayrana was sung in the Pareshan mood by Shalmali Kholgade but had a bounciness that pricked your interest. Anything helmed by Sneha Khanwalkar is bound to be wonky and Khoobsurat was exactly that. Engine ki seeti, written by Ikram Rajasthani and sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Resmi Sateesh chugged along nicely. Guest composer Amaal Malik too came up with a gem called Naina. This Punjabi folk was sung with a lot of josh by Armaan Malik and Sona Mohapatra.
October
Movies: Haider
Haider composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, with lyrics by Gulzar was another album, which complemented the film to a T. It had the evergreen Mehdi Hassan song, Gulon mein rang bhare (written by Faiz) re-rendered by Arijit Singh, the goose bumps inducing Bismil and Aao na, sung by Sukhwinder Singh and Vishal Dadlani respectively. Bang Bang composed by Vishal-Shekhar wowed with the love duet Meherbaan sung by Shilpa Rao and Shekhar Ravjiani and the fast-paced dance number Tu meri, sung by Vishal Dadlani. The composer duo also had Happy New Year releasing the same month. Manwa lage, the romantic duet sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Arijit Singh and India waale, by Vishal Dadlani, KK, Shankar Mahadevan and Neeti Mohan too created a buzz.
November
Movies: Kill/dil
The film that stood out musically in November was Kill/Dil. Composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy paid homage to the ’70s music as well as legendary Western composer Ennio Morricone with their compositions. The title song, sung with much verve (and with much yodeling) by Sonu Niigaam and Shankar Mahadevan stood out, as did the romantic duet Sajde by Arijit Singh and Nihira Joshi Deshpande
December
Movies: PK
PK composed by Shantanu Moitra, Ajay-Atul and Ankit Tiwari offered a mix bag of goodies. Tharki chokro, a fun song composed by Ajay-Atul and written by Swanand Kirkire was the takeaway song of the album. Char kadam, sung with the right romantic notes by Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal and composed by Shantanu Moitra too was pleasing to the ear. The album was highly situational but worked nevertheless.
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